Kavaje

Kavajë is a city and a municipality in Tirana County, centrally located in the Western Lowlands region of Albania. The present municipality was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Kavajë, Golem, Helmas, Luz i Vogël and Synej, that became municipal units. The seat of the municipality is the city Kavajë. The total population is 40,094 (2011 census), in a total area of 198.81km2. The population of the former municipality (the present municipal unit) at the 2011 census was 20,192. It was the seat of the former Kavajë District. It borders Durrës to the north, Tiranë to the east and Rrogozhinë to the south. To the west lies the Adriatic Sea.OriginThe name Kavajë is mentioned in Ottoman archives from the Land Registry of the Sanjak of Albania for the years 1431–1432. In the documents, first published by Turkish scholar Halil İnalcık this locality was part of.HistoryEarly Illyrian settlementThe present day territory of Kavajë has been inhabited since the Late Antiquity. It is believed that the Illyrian tribe of Taulantii built their city Arnisa in the area today known as Zikxhafaj. After the eventual Roman Conquest of the region, Kavajë would become a transit route for Via Egnatia. The road was built by the Romans in order to link a chain of their colonies stretching from the Adriatic Sea to the Bosphorus. The famous Battle of Pharsalus between Julius Caesar and his archrival Pompey took place near Shkëmbi i Kavajës, at the time known as Petra.